What if? Volume One
by Spartan259
Summary: What if Red Skull's plan to steal the super soldier serum from Erskine worked? What is Dr. Zola used the serum on a certain one of his prisoners? What if Steve Rogers didn't make it back from the rescue mission to save Bucky? What if Bucky Barnes became an American hero and a symbol for the masses? This is the story of how Bucky Barnes became Captain America. Goes TFA till Endgame.
1. Prologue

**description:**

**What if Red Skull's plan to steal the super soldier serum from Erskine worked, What if Dr. Zola used this serum on one of his prisoners, and what if Steve Rogers didn't make it back from his rescue mission to save Bucky?**

**What if Bucky Barnes became an American hero and a symbol to the masses?**

**What If?**

**Chapter One**

**Prolouge**

Steven Rogers was a no longer some skinny little asthmatic, he was now a physically flawless super soldier. Agent Peggy Carter walked up to him.

"How do you feel?" she asked with concern in her voice.

"Taller," replied Steve.

Steve was handed a shirt which he promptly put on. In the viewing area, there were several astounded top brass. They mae their way down to congradulate Dr. Erskine and get an up-close view of their new specimen. Several of those present shook hands with Dr. Erskine, the man behind the super soldier serum. While for most, this was a time for celebration, one man looked as though he was seething with rage. Little did anyone know, this man was secretly a HYDRA agent with two key missions: kill Dr. Erskine and recover some of the doctor's serum.

The agent withdrew a lighter from his jacket. He flicked open the cap and the viewing area exploded, causing enough of a distraction for him to take several phials of serum. One mission accomplished. Dr. Erskine, however, had seen the HYDRA operative taking the serum.

"Stop him!" he yelled out to the MPs in the room.

The agent withdrew a standard issue German Ruger handgun from his jacket and shot Dr. Erskine in the chest. Twice. As the doctor fell to the ground with two bleeding holes in his chest, the HYDRA operative rushed up the stairs and towards the exit wounding two MPs on the way.

Steve knelt next to Dr. Erskine. The scientist made his last act count, he pointed right at Steve's heart. A reminder that it's what's inside that truly matters. Seeing that his friend was dead, Steve stood up and raced after the spy.

As Steve got outside, he saw Peggy kill the driver of the car that was attempting to get away with the serum, The man who killed Erskine climbed into the driver's seat; he floored it in Peggy's direction. Just as the car was about to flatten her, Steve tackled her out of the way.

"I had him!" she stated angrily.

"Sorry," he replied as he chased after the car. He was surprised to learn that he could outrun the cars on the street at what felt like a casual pace. Steve saw the car take a turn so he went through an alleyway to cut off the fleeing Nazi. In his way was a chain link fence, which he easily leaped over. After nearly being run over, Steve ran up the back of a fruit truck and jumped onto the top of the HYDRA agents's car. The agent heard the impact of Steve landing on his car, took out his Ruger, and blindly fired at the roof of the car, narrowly missing. The HYDRA agent, by the name of Heinz Kruger, was so focused on shooting Steve that he wasn't paying any attention to the road as they drove into a harbor area; leading to the car clipping a flatbed truck. Steve fell of and landed next to the passenger side door of the car. The rest of the cab continued to roll until Kruger exited the vehicle Ruger in hand.

Kruger raised his gun. Steve saw this and quickly used the door as a shield to block the incoming rounds. With Steve distracted, Kruger grabbed a nearby young boy to use as a human shield and hostage. Kuger took the boy around a corner, as Steve followed, Kruger fired two more rounds to keep Steve in cover and to lengthen the distance between them. Kruger than ran down an alley with the boy in tow. When Steve caught up to Kruger and the boy, he saw that the HYDRA operative had his gun against the boy's head.

"No wait, don't," pleaded Steve.

Kruger pulled the trigger, luckily, he had spent all of the Ruger's rounds. Kruger than improvised and threw the bow into the frigid water, hoping to distract Steve long enough to escape. Steve was about to dive in to save boy when the kid said,

"Go get him, I can swim."

With that, the boy paddled off.

Steve resumed his pursuit of Kruger. farther down, he saw the Nazi boarding an advanced one-man submarine. Steve wasted no time in diving after the fleeing spy. He also found out that he could swim at the same pace as the sub. As he swam alongside the sub, he punched through the cockpit window and threw Kruger back onto the dock. Before Steve could get to him, however, he through the phial of serum he stolen to an approaching comrade. The other spy than ran off just as Steve emerged from the water.

He knocked Kruger to the ground.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded, roughly shaking the man.

"The first of many," coughed Kruger as he popped a cyanide pill.

"Cut off one head,, two more shall take its place," he continued, the effects of the poisons now setting in, "hiel HYDRA."

Kruger's struggling ceased. He was dead. Steve stared down at the fallen operative when he suddenly realized something. He searched Kruger's body and confirmed his fears. the serum had been taken by another HYDRA operative.

"Damn," he muttered under his breath.

**(A/N: Feel free to ask any any questions you may have on this story, I will be sure to answer them in the next chapter. As always, feel free to share any constructive ****criticism, I strive to improve my stories as much as I can)**

**(P.S.)**

**(The other chapters will be longer)**


	2. Front Lines

**What If?**

**Chapter Two**

**Front Lines**

**Italy, 1943**

Sgt. James "Bucky" Barnes was one in hundreds of men in the 107th. He and the other soldiers had heard that there was going to be a USO show at camp by the time they got back, _if we get back, _thought Bucky, _The girls would surely be able lift or spirits. _Next to him, Pvt. Gilmore Hodge was bantering with some frieds when he turned to face him.

"What exactly are we doing out here, Sarge?" asked Hodge.

"Weren't you listening when the C.O gave us the mission briefing?" Bucky countered, for he already knew the answer.

Seeing that the private genuinely didn't remember, he paraphrased the briefing.

"We are being sent out to counter a German force in the area," explained Bucky.

Hodge nodded. Bucky personally had doubts about the mission; it was clearly an large force if a whole regiment was being deployed to neutralize it. They weren't even given a clear objective other than, "eliminate hostiles." It was a mission that was actually given to them by the SSR, Strategic Science Reserve. Bucky wasn't sure what that meant and he was pretty sure he'd heard the word, 'hydra,' used by some SSR staff. He had no idea what it meant, maybe it was the code name for some high-value target or contingency plan.

Eventually, their march came to an abrupt halt when Bucky heard someone yell,

"Get down!"

Bucky looked up and saw a barrage of artillery fire raining from the sky. Those in the front were the only ones to get hit, Barnes and Hodge ducked under a fallen tree as the screams of wounded men filled their ears. The barrage came to a sudden stop. A lieutenant, named Dunn, stood up from the rock that he and several other soldiers were hiding behind.

"We must be close to the town," he said.

The 107th broke the treeline and saw a town being ravaged by a superior number of black-glad, laser wielding Germans.. The weapons that the Germans held fired blue energy blasts that incinerated any human that it touched. There was a squad of British troops holding the town but their numbers were dwindling; it was clear that they wouldn't be able to hold on much longer.

"Well," said Bucky, "are we just gonna stand around and watch?"

A chorus of, "Hell no!," came from the other soldiers' throats.

"Let's get 'em," said Lieutenant Dunn.

Captain McQueen broke down the plan.

"I want MGs on the that ridge, no bazookas, I want no civilian casualties. Anyone who isn't a sharpshooter or using an MG is going right into the town with me and splitting into three teams."

Barnes, Hodge, Dunn, and several others split off to take one sector of the town. Bucky was slightly relieved to see that some of the Germans were using conventional sub-machine guns and rifles. This relief disappeared when a new and improved German laser tank rolled through the street that Bucky and the others were fighting in.

"Tank!" yelled Dunn, "everybody, scatter!"

The tank shot a blast of blue energy and three soldiers disappeared into nothingness. Bucky aimed his M1 Garand down range as more back-clad Nazis poured through the street. he pulled the trigger and a .762 round cut through the heart of a German soldier. Bucky dropped two more before they swared the house that he, Hodge, and Briggs had fled to. A German kicked the door down and Dunn sprayed him down with fire from his Thompson. Dunn held the door as Hodge searched the house.

"Hey, Sarge," he called, "we've got a situation."

Bucky rushed over to Hodge.

"What happened?" he asked.

Hodge pointed through a bedroom door where a family of three sat huddled in the corner.

"Aw, crap," said Bucky.

As gunfire echoed through the medium sized home, Dunn yelled for his men.

"What's going on back there?" asked the L.T.

"There's civilians in here," replied Bucky.

"get them outa here!" yelled Dunn.

Dunn's Tommy gun clicked, the mag was spent. He quickly reloaded before more Germans could show up.

Bucky turned to face Hodge.

"There's a back door right there," he said, "take the civilians and get them to a safe location."

Hodge nodded his head and went over to the huddled family as Bucky raced to the front to support Dunn.

"Uh, anyone speak English?" he asked.

"I do," said the father.

"Alright, we're... I'm getting you outta here," continued Hodge, "when I say, we make a run for the treeline and make out way to that ridge, we have troops there who can help you."

Withe, Hodge led the family to the treeline.

Bucky reached the front room when he heard Dunn.

"Barnes, get down!" he said.

Bucky ducked under a blue energy beam and got into a kneeling stance. Bucky shot the laser wielding German with his M1 at a range of eight feet; the enemy soldier was dead before he hit the ground. Dunn had three dead bodies around with two others at the door, his Thompson lay discarded a few feet from him as he fought a German in hand-to-hand combat. Another wounded German took out a Ruger and shot Dunn in the chest; the L.T fell to the ground as Bucky shot the one who shot Dunn in the head with his M1. The German who had been fighting Dunn ran at Bucky, who placed a knife between his ribs.

Bucky knelt beside Dunn.

"You're gonna be just fine, sir," he said, applying pressure to the wound.

Dunn groaned.

"Let's not kid ourselves Barnes...," he said.

He gestured to his wound, which was bleeding profusely.

"I'm not makin' it outta here. Take my Tommy gun, find the captain, and get the hell out of this town."

Bucky nodded. a few moments later, he watched the light fade from Dunn's eyes. He picked up Dunn's discarded Thompson and took his dog tags. When Bucky left the house, it became apparent that a skirmish had happened outside. Several black-clad German lay dead in the street; as did many American troops, some were nothing more than discarded weapons, indicating the use if the laser weapons.

In the distance, Bucky heard gunfire and explosions. As he continued walking down the street, he saw even more dead; he also saw some wounded Germans, who he quickly put out of their misery with his 45.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hodge had reached the ridge. He approached the lieutenant in charge of the MG group.

"I've got civilians here," he said.

Before the officer could respond, however, another soldier ran into the group, panting.

"Captain McQueen is ordering a retreat," said the messenger.

"Is there a rally point?" asked the MG officer.

"The trail we came in by," replied the tired soldier.

"Here that, boys!" said the officer, "we're headin' back."

He then turned to face Hodge.

"Take the civilians with us, they may have some information on these krauts," he said.

Hodge nodded and gestured for the civilians to follow.

* * *

Back in the town, Bucky had reached the scene of a pitched battle. Americans were in a two story and the neighboring building firing on German troops below. The Americans were winning until another advanced tank rolled up and blew off the second story of one of the buildings. The Germans used the opprotunity to storm the buildings for close quarters combat.

Bucky took cover behind a house and sighted a target with his M1 Garand and pulled the trigger, the round going through his target's shoulder. Several Germans turned and brought fire in Bucky's position. He had done what he intended; some fire had been taken off of the soldiers in the buildings, creating a miniature war on two fronts, though one front was just him.

He took out Dunn's Tommy gun and sprayed down his foes killing or injuring three of them. before needing to reload. Four German soldiers moved on Bucky's position. Bucky poked his Thompson around the corner of the building he was hiding behind and dropped one of his attackers with a sustained burst of gunfire.

The other three rounded the corner with their weapons raised. Before they could react, however, Bucky emptied the rest of the mag into one of them. Dropping the Tommy gun, he ran forward and tackled one of the Germans while shooting the other one in the shoulder with his 45. Bucky and the German soldier engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Back in Brooklyn, Bucky had gotten into more than his fair share of fights protecting Steve, whether it be against one or three foes, Bucky almost always came out on top. Buck'y fists met the other man's face in a series of brutal punches until his own fists started bleeding. The German withdrew a combat knife and slashed in across Bucky's chest, cutting with uniform and drawing blood. He swung the knife again but missed completely, leaving himself open for attack. Bucky withdrew his own knife and rammed it through the other man's chest, right through his heart. Another German ran up to help his comrades. Bucky shot him in the head with his 45. Sending the man crashing down in cloud of red.

Unbeknownst t Bucky, the German he had shot in the shoulder had stood up and was moving towards him with his SMG raised like a club. Just as Bucky turned, the man brought it down on his head, knocking Bucky to the ground unconscious.

* * *

Several minutes later, Bucky woke with the face of another soldier in his face and a pounding head ache. Timothy Dugan stood over him.

"Hey man, wake up," he said shaking Bucky.

Bucky groaned and Dugan, seeing that Bucky was a least somewhat conscious, pulled him up.

"What happened?" asked Bucky.

"We lost," Dugan replied simply, "the Krauts got us. We're now prisoners of war."

Bucky looked around and saw that at least half the regiment had been captured. On a raised platform, a German officer addressed the crowd of captured American soldiers.

"Attention gentlemen," he said, "I am Johan Schmidt."

"Nobody cares!" one of the captured soldiers yelled.

Schmidt smirked at this remark before continuing his speech.

"Most of you are likely expecting to be sent to a concentration camp to starved or gassed," he said, "that is not the case. Instead you are being taken to my nearby base; one lucky candidate will be taken and experimented on while the rest of you rot like dogs."

Schmist turned to address one of the more junior officers.

"Round them up," he ordered simply.

* * *

The march to Schmidt's base was a brutal one. When one man fell out of line with the rest of the POWs, he was beaten by the guards until he stopped moving. Eventually, they reached Schmidt's base and it was like something out of science-fiction. It was massive, complete with guard towers, armored gates, and a large garrison of defenders. However, the base itself; the base was a massive, steel fortress. As the prisoners were led into the base, it became even more apparent how large the base was. After a longer time than anyone would have guessed, they reached the cell block.

Each cell was meant to hold over a dozen men. Just as Bucky entered the cell, one of the guards stopped him.

"You," he said, grabbing his arm, "Dr. Zola will want to see you."

"Who?"

* * *

The guard escorted Bucky to into a darkened chamber. On the wall, there was a map of Europe with several areas marked, indicating other HYDRA bases. As Bucky taken in front of a desk with a short, balding man behind it.

"Sgt. Barnes," he said.

"You know me," replied Bucky, confused.

"The after-action reports had your name in more than a few areas," the man replied cryptically.

"You're Dr. Zola," said Bucky, it wasn't a question.

"Clever to I see," said Zola,, "you will make a great candidate."

Bucky became filled with dread. He was the test subject.

"Uh, what am I candidate for?" he asked.

"You will be the new fist of HYDRA, a super soldier,"

"Look pal, you're never gonna get me to change sides," Bucky stated firmly.

"Ah yes, the famous American patriotism, I know you won't join us willingly, so I will make you," said Zola, "When I'm done, you will be an entirely different person."

Bucky attempted to reach over the desk and grab the little man by the throat. Before he could, however, the HYDRA soldier grabbed his arm and oulled him back. Bucy was put into restraints and set on an examination table. Zola approached him with a brief case in his hand. As Bucky attempted to brake the restraints that bound him to the table, Zola opened the case and took out several phials of blue liquid; he then put them into holders that were on the side of the table. A HYDRA soldier approached the table with a syringe and injected it into Bucky's arm. Bucky immediately felt exhausted, it must have been a calming sedative. Bucky didn't know this at the time, but his best friend, Steve Rogers had been given the same serum. But the ones who injected Steve took safety measures and cared about their subject's well being. Bucky had no such compassion shown to him. As Bucky's vision began to fade, he saw the blood liquid being injected into him.


	3. Rescue Mission

**What If?**

**Chapter Three**

**"Rescue Operation"**

**Italy, 1943**

Steve Rogers had bee sent to Europe to raise troop morale. But his last USO show had been a complete disaster. He'd seen Gilmore Hodge from boot camp in the crowd, but he threw things at him like everyone else. They didn't even consider him to be a soldier and, if he was honest with himself, neither did he. As he sat under a pop-up tent in the rain,drawing a picture of a dancing monkey wielding the shield he used during the shows, he thought about Bucky and desperately wished that his friend was there just to let him know that he wasn't alone. _Would he even be on your side? _thought Steve; what if Bucky thought what the other soldiers thought. That he was just a worthless propaganda machine. As Steve continued to think, Peggy Carter walked up behind him. She saw what he was drawing.

"You were meant for more than this, you know," said Peggy.

"It's better than what Phillips would have me doing," replied Steve solemnly.

"So these are your only two options?" she said, "A laboratory experiment or a dancing monkey."

Steve simply looked down. As he continued brooding, he saw an ambulance with wounded soldiers pull up.

"They look like they've been through hell," he said.

"These men more than most," said Peggy, "they sent out two-hundred men, less than forty returned."

Steve looked up with an inquisitive look on his face.

"The men you you just performed for were the remnants of the 107th."

Steve's mood quickly changed to one of panic.

"The 107th?" he asked.

* * *

"Come on!" yelled Steve as he ran for colonel Philips command tent.

As Steve and Peggy walked up, Col. Philips' face twisted to show a mild distaste.

"Well if it isn't the star-spangled man with a plan!what is your plan today?" he asked rhetorically.

"I need the casualty list from the 107th!" said Steve frantically.

"You can't give me orders, son," said Philips.

"I just need one name, sir, sergeant James Barnes," insisted The USO showman.

Philips turned to face Peggy.

"Later on, you and I are going to have a talk that you won't enjoy."

He turned back to Steve.

"I have signed more of these condolence letters than I would care to count, but the name does sound familiar, I'm sorry," said Philips.

"What about the prisoners? do we have a plan for rescue?" Steve was still grasping at the hope that Bucky was still alive.

"Yeah, It's called winning the war." replied Philips, "if I read the posters correctly, you've got somewhere to be in thirty minutes."

"Yes sir, I do," replied with steel in his voice.

* * *

Sore

That was how Bucky felt when he began to regain consciousness.

"Sargent Barnes, are you still with us?"

Bucky slowly nodded his head as his memories came back to him. He was a prisoner. Dr. Zola had been experimenting on him.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"You have not been moved," replied Zola.

Bucky felt off somehow, like he was much bigger.

"Congratulations," said Zola.

"For what?" asked Bucky, confused.

"For becoming HYDRA's new super soldier."

Bucky's eyes widened. If he had the energy, he would have reached out and choked the life out of the little fascist. Zola ran around the room grabbing files and putting all of them in a brief case. Quickly, Bucky fell back into unconsciousness.

* * *

Steve had successfully infiltrated the HYDRA base with the help of Howard Stark and Peggy Carter and he had freed the POWs. One of the soldiers told him that Bucky had been taken to Dr. Zola's lab, now Steve was running there. When he arrived, he saw Bucky strapped to a table. Though Bucky was very fit, he seemed bigger now, even though Steve had the augmentations. putting these thoughts aside, he quickly ran to Bucky's side and began to untie him.

"Hey, Bucky, it's me," said Steve.

"Steve..." he muttered sleepily.

Steve finished undoing the ropes; he picked up Bucky and helped him to his feet.

"What happened to you?" asked Bucky, "How'd you get so... big?"

"I could ask you the same thing," replied Steve, jokingly.

As they walked through the base, the building was shaken by a large explosion.

"What the hell is going on?" exclaimed Bucky.

"We need to get out of here!" said Steve urgently.

The two ran up a few flights of stairs to a catwalk that ran alongside the wall, below which everything was engulfed in fire.. As they raced for the bridge that crossed to a catwalk on the other side, they heard a voice call out.

"Captain America!" it was Schmidt, "how exiting, I am a great fan of your films."

Schmidt was on the other catwalk across the bridge with Dr. Zola.

"So Dr. Erskine managed it after all," Schmidt walked to the middle of the bridge, where Steve was. Bucky behind him. "Not exactly an improvement but still, impressive," said Schmidt.

Steve hit Schmidt in the face with right cross.

"You've got no idea," he said, his eyes flashing dangerously as Schmidt regained his balance.

"Haven't I?" said Schmidt lowly.

Schmidt through a right hook but Steve blocked it with his aluminum show-shield; Schmidt's fist left an imprint where it had struck. Steve quickly pulled out his 1911 but Schmidt hit hit with an uppercut that knocked Steve on his back and sent his pistol off of the bridge and into the fires below. As Schmidt moved forward, Steve used both of his legs to kick the Nazi commander back to the other side of the bridge. As both fighters regained their footing, Zola pulled a lever that caused two sides of the bridge to separate.

"No matter what lies Erskine told you, I was his greatest success!" exclaimed Schmidt.

He then ripped off his face as though it were a full-head mask, revealing a flat, red, skull.

Bucky recoiled.

"You don't have one of those do you?" he asked Steve.

"You are deluded, Captain," said Schmidt, "you still think that you and now your friend can be a simple solder when in reality you two are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind!"

He and Zola entered the elevator.

"Unlike you, I embrace it proudly, without fear," continued Schmidt.

"Then how come you're running?" Steve fired back.

The elevator doors closed and the evil duo were gone. Steve looked up as the area continued to explode. He another set of catwalks a level up, the two sides were connected by a fallen steel beam.

"Come on! up!" said Steve.

The two friends rushed up the stairs.

"You first," said Steve when got to the beam.

"You sure?" asked Bucky.

Steve nodded. Bucky vaulted the railing and carefully made his was above the inferno. The beam began to slide down into the fire so Bucky jumped the remaining distance, clearing the railing with ease.

"Whoa," he muttered, surprised at his new strength.

He turned around and saw his friend still on the other side.

"There's got to be a rope r something," shouted Bucky.

"Go! get out of here!" yelled Steve.

"No, not without you!"Bucky yelled back defiantly.

Steve saw a solution. He bent the railing out of the way and took several steps back. The building continued to shutter. Steve sprinted forward as fast as he could and jumped, he made it about half way before the flames engulfed him. Bucky watched in horror as his best friend was swallowed by the inferno and plummeted to his doom.

Steve Rogers was dead.


	4. Grief

**What If?**

**Chapter Four**

**"Grief"**

**SSR camp, Italy:**

"Ariel reconnaissance has proven unfruitful, as a result, I mus declare captain Steve Rogers killed in action," Col. Phillips said while his aide copied down down what he had s"aid in a telegram.

"The last surveillance flight is back," said agent Carter, "There's no sign of activity."

Phillips nodded grimly.

"Go get yourself some coffee, corporal," Phillips dismissed his aide.

"Yes sir," the man left the command tent.

When he was gone, Phillips turned on Carter.

"We can't touch Stark, he's rich and the military's number one weapons contractor, you are neither one!" Phillips' voice got slightly louder at he said the last few words.

"With respect, sir, I don't regret my actions and I don't think Captain Rogers would either," said Peggy.

"Do you think I give a damn about your opinions?" Phillips said in a low, dangerous voice, "We took a chance with you, Agent Carter, and now America's golden boy and a lot of other good men are dead because you had a crush."

"It wasn't that," said Carter, "I had faith."

"Well I hope that's a comfort to you when they shut this division down." said Phillips.

As the two officers were locked in their debate, several of the men outside began running and talking excitedly.

"What the hell's going on out there?" said Phillips.

He and Agent Carter ducked out of the tent and were shocked by what they saw.

* * *

James Barnes lead the scores of men in the camp. He had Steve's singed shield strapped to his left arm and a sub-machine gun slung over his right shoulder. All around him, friends were reuniting and talking animatedly; there was a general air of happiness and excitement in the air. Both of these feelings evaded Bucky. All he could think about was his best friend's face as the fire overtook him. _Steve was gone, _the thought kept circling his mind, playing repeat over and over again. In was like he was in a trance.

Despite being in a fog of sadness and despair, he snapped to attention when he saw Colonel Phillips walking up to him.

"Who are you, son?" asked the colonel.

"Sargent James Barnes, sir," said Bucky with a salute.

"Well, Sargent, looks like you did a fine job leading these men back," said Phillips, "Where's Rogers."

The sadness in Bucky's eyes told the colonel all he needed to know.

"He didn't make it," Bucky replied stiffly.

Bucky noticed that Agent Carter seemed to stiffen at his words but her sadness was none of his concern.

"Some of these men need medical attention," said Bucky.

Phillips nodded.

"Don't you worry, son, we'll take care of it," with that, Colonel Phillips walked off. For a while, Bucky just stood there, then the crowd dispersed and he went back to his old tent. When he entered the tent, some of the other soldiers tried to make conversation with him. He ignored them all. He just sat down on his bed, the events of the last few days weighing heavily in his mind...

* * *

**_Several days earlier..._**

"Go! Get out of here!" Steve cried out.

"No, not without you!" Bucky replied just as vehemently.

Seeing that there was no way he could convince his friend to leave, Steve bent two metal guard rails out of the way so he could make the jump over to Bucky's catwalk. Steve took a few steps back and sprinted as fast as he could towards the edge, as he reached the end of it, he jumped.

Bucky watched in horror as an explosion engulfed Steve before he made it across.

"Steve!" cried Bucky.

No response.

"Steve!" Bucky called again.

When the fire and smoke cleared somewhat from the last explosion, Bucky saw that his friend was indeed gone. The only thing that made it across was a an aluminium shield, bent and scorched at the edges. Seeing that it could be used as a weapon and a defensive tool, Bucky scooped it up and strapped it to his left arm. Bucky looked down into the fiery chasm that Steve had fallen into. He didn't see his friend, just the roaring flames.

Bucky was not a very emotional man, but when his best friend died, some tears managed to leak out of his eyes. Wiping his tears away, Bucky turned around and ran for an exit. He was hoping that he could find some HYDRA solders. He very much felt like killing something.

* * *

The soldiers were up late that night. Celebrating and drinking to the return of their comrades. Bucky received several pats on the back from the other men as he was widely viewed as the man who lead all of the prisoners back to base. But he did not share in the upbeat mood of those around him. Some commented on how he looked much bigger than anyone else present but no one really cared to listen, a fact Bucky was grateful for Some of the other men still had to be given bad news. Several men had died in the escape from the HYDRA base and the battle that put the there i the first place. Despite this, only one other person at the improvised bar looked nearly as distraught as he did.

That woman was Peggy Carter.

Bucky couldn't place why she was so upset. She seemed like she would be distant from the average men-at-arms and grunts like colonel Phillips was, but, here she was none the less.

He moved to sit closer to her.

"What brings you here?" he asked.

"Mind your own business!" Peggy snapped back.

She turned to see who it was that had bothered her. She was embarrassed to see that it was James Barnes, the best friend of the man she was mourning. He certainly would be feeling the same way, worse in fact, she thought, mentally scolding herself.

"Sorry." she mumbled.

He waved her apology aside.

"It's no problem, who'd you lose?' He asked now that it seemed his previous hunch had been correct.

"Captain Rogers, actually." she stated.

Bucky raised his eyebrow at that.

"Really?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Did you know him before he got transformed into a super hero?" Bucky continued.

Peggy nodded again.

"For a time. I met him when he started basic training. He was very brave." she elaborated. "He always talked about you, you know. Worshiped you like an older brother he did."

A small smile spread over Bucky's features.

"We were brothers in all but blood." He said mournfully, remembering the their adventures in Brooklyn over the years..

He ordered a couple of drinks.

"I heard we're heading back to America." said Bucky, " Is that rue?"

"Yes, we break camp tomorrow." Peggy replied.

"Well at least it'll be good to be back home again," he said more to himself then to Peggy.

For a few moments, the two of them sat in silence, just sipping their drinks. Then, he heard Peggy mumble something to herself.

"What will we do now?" she said.

"What's that?" Bucky responded.

"Back in America, Steve is a national hero; how can we possibly explain the death of Captain America?" Peggy answered.

Bucky pondered this. It was true that hearing the news that an American hero like Steve had been killed in action would be a major morale blow. Though, truth be told, that was the last thing on his mind. He now had the super soldier serum running through his veins, he had noticed the difference it made as he led the men from the HYDRA base. Nonetheless, there would never be a man so perfect to be Captain America. He had been moral, idealistic, and optimistic. The embodiment of the American dream.

"How much did you know him?" Bucky asked.

"Steve? I didn't know hi for terribly long, I'm afraid. Though his bravery, even before the serum, was inspiring and truly incredible." She spoke of Steve with admiration and... love? in her voice.

She told Bucky of how Steve had jumped on a dummy grenade and told everyone to get back when colonel Phillips had tested to see who had the most guts by way of a dummy grenade that the trainees had been led to believe was live. Bucky actually smiled at that.

"That sounds just like him," said Bucky, "the little guy from Brooklyn who was always too dumb to run away from a fight."

They both raised their glasses.

"To Steve." They toasted.

* * *

Bucky stumbled down the hallway in a daze. The temperature increasing with every second. As he rounded the corner, he ran directly in to a HYDRA soldier who was running in full sprint. The soldier fell back when he hit Bucky; Bucky himself only moved an , he was surprised by his newfound strength but, he realized that thus should no longer be a surprise to him.

As the German soldier got back up,Bucky slammed the edge of Steve's shield into the man's throat. Blood poured out of the wound and splattered over the shield as the soldier made a garbled choking sound as his hands went to cover the wound. The HYDRA man fell face down and Bucky took the man's Luger handgun and continued down the hallway, leaving the other man to die in a pool of his own blood.

As he continued down the hall, he came to a door that led out of the base and to the location of the fighting between the freed POWs and the HYDRA soldiers. before he could reach it, however, Three HYDRA men came through the door. Knowing that the thin aluminum shield on his arm would do very little to stop rounds from their SMGs, Bucky took cover behind a crate and drew the Luger he had taken from the man he had encountered earlier. Bucky carefully peaked around the corner as the three men facing him unloaded into the crates he was behind.

Bucky took aim and fired the Luger. The round caught the man in the chest, he collapsed to the floor. The other two were distracted for the briefest of moments by their comrade's fall. In that moment, Bucky rushed forward. He struck the first man in the jaw with an uppercut from his shield; the man's head snapped back. Bucky followed it up with a body shot delivered by his right fist. His target flew backwards several yards and hit the ground with a resounding thud. The other man turned his sub machine gun to face Bucky but he was too slow .Bucky pivoted and slammed the front of the shield into the final HYDRA man's face, knocking him out cold and leaving an indent in the shield where his face had been struck.

Bucky took their sub-machine gun and headed out of the door. He would be leading his comrades away from HYDRA's sick experiments.

* * *

Now, after a night of drinking and talking to Agent Carter, Bucky was once again left alone to reflect upon these events as he sat on his bunk. All the other men in the tent were asleep. He was grateful for the fog of alcohol that clouded his memory ever so slightly, and thus, numbing the pain of his friend's loss ever so slightly. But not a lot.

"I'll kill them," Bucky vowed quietly. "I won't stop till HYDRA is nothing but a bad memory and all of its' members are dead or rotting away it prison cells."

He knew that if he figured out how to properly harness his new abilities, he would be nearly unstoppable. He would be HYDRA's menace, their boogeyman. Bucky wanted to make Johan Schmidt check under his bed for him. Little did Bucky know, his plans would come to great fruition. Fate is inexorable.

Destiny is everything.


End file.
